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Liquid coconut oil also labeled MCT oil, is not a legitimate healthy fat and why these expensive, highly processed lipids that occur nowhere in nature are best avoided by smart consumers.
If there is one truism in the world of food manufacturing, it is this. If a particular whole food becomes popular with consumers, food manufacturers will figure out a way to adulterate and cleverly market it.
The endgame is fooling the average consumer into erroneously believing that this new fractionated food is “better” than the original.
This adage very accurately applies to the much-hyped supplement MCT oil. Manufacturers also shrewdly market it as liquid coconut oil for cooking purposes.
Both of these impostors have been popping up on health food store shelves sometimes boldly and inaccurately marketed as “better than coconut oil”.
Why Coconut Oil is a Fat Superstar
Coconut oil in its unprocessed, unfractionated state is one of the healthiest fats on the planet. It has nourished degenerative disease-free traditional cultures in Asia for centuries.
What’s more, these cultures suffered from essentially no heart disease. Thus, misguided accusations that coconut oil isn’t “heart healthy” are clearly false and completely unsupportable with anthropological evidence.
Coconut oil is loaded with beneficial fatty acids called medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). These MCTs or MCFAs (medium chain fatty acids) do not need to be digested by bile salts.
These digestive juices are secreted by the liver and stored by the gall bladder.
Hint: this is why coconut oil is good for those who’ve had gall bladder surgery.
What’s more, MCTs are not typically stored by the body as fat as longer chain fats are. Instead, they are quickly converted to energy which makes them particularly suitable for weight loss.
Consumers have caught onto the benefits of coconut oil for weight loss and overall wellness in recent years. Numerous companies now market virgin and expeller pressed versions for a variety of culinary uses.
MCT Oil is a Factory Food
Some companies are marketing impostor products trying to ride the wave of coconut oil popularity. Coconut oil processed into wannabes like MCT oil or liquid coconut oil becomes something else entirely, and for the consumer, it is definitely not for the better.
When I first saw liquid coconut oil on the shelf of my local health food store, I thought, “What in the world is this? A coconut oil that stays liquid in the refrigerator and is “excellent” for cooking?” I secretly wondered and knew that something fishy was going on.
Anyone familiar with coconut oil knows that it is a solid fat at temperatures below 76 F/ 24 C.
If the coconut oil stays liquid all the time, even in the refrigerator, that is your clue that it is fake.
Similarly, I was receiving emails from readers who were using MCT oil, the supplement version of liquid coconut oil, instead of actual coconut oil for weight loss and other health purposes.
Things just didn’t seem on the up and up to me, so I started to sniff around…
Dregs from Fractionated Coconut Oil
The dominant medium chain fatty acid in coconut oil is lauric acid, comprising 50% of the total fat content. It is no exaggeration to call lauric acid a superstar of fats, as it has scientifically proven antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Our human digestion converts lauric acid into monolaurin which defends us against viruses, bacteria, parasites and other pathogens. In short, lauric acid is a huge boon to the immune system.
Lauric acid is not only one of the healthiest fatty acids on the planet, it is highly elusive as well. Made only by the mammary gland in humans and available in small amounts in butterfat and significant amounts in palm kernel oil and coconut oil, this beneficial fat is not widely found in nature.
The trouble with MCT Oil
People want lauric acid for the health benefits, but personal care manufacturers want it too for enhancing the quality of their products.
Isolated lauric acid functions as a skin conditioning agent. It is an inert and stable emollient used in creams, ointments, lotions, and lipsticks. Lauric acid slows the loss of water from the skin by forming a barrier on the skin’s surface.
It also alters the thickness of liquids acting as a viscosity controlling agent and provides surface glide by promoting color dispersion in finished products.
This is why lauric acid is removed from coconut oil and sold off for manufacturing purposes to personal care companies.
What’s left when the highly saturated lauric acid (and potentially a few other highly saturated fatty acids too depending on the manufacturer) with a melting point of 110F/ 43C is removed from coconut oil?
You guessed it!
MCT oil, which is sold as a supplement, and liquid coconut oil, sold for cooking. They are both the same thing, in essence, the coconut oil “dregs”.
MCT Oil Manufacturing
Another problem with MCT oil and its cooking counterpart liquid coconut oil is the manufacturing.
The forcible removal of lauric acid from coconut oil is not an easy process. You could not do it yourself at home!
It typically requires chemical recombination of refined fatty acids in coconut oil with a synthetic vegetable-based ester.
Chemical residues in the resulting MCT oil would be a definite concern as a result.
A more natural process is molecular distillation of virgin coconut oil. This method involves no chemicals and is a physical process only.
While MCT oil manufactured in this manner would be nontoxic and safe to consume, it is important to note that MCT or liquid coconut oil is not found anywhere in nature.
As such, regular consumption would have unknown health consequences.
To obtain the full health and weight loss benefits of MCTs in the proper proportions as found in nature, you need to consume virgin coconut oil, and if you need one with no taste, expeller-pressed coconut oil.
Don’t fall for the MCT oil scam! It is a manmade product found nowhere in nature.
Liquid Coconut Oil Scam
The reason I suspect that liquid coconut oil is marketed as “better than coconut oil for cooking” is that it stays liquid even when refrigerated.
However, while this is better for convenience, it is not better from a health perspective especially considering that coconut oil itself doesn’t need to be refrigerated due to high resistance to rancidity even in very hot climes.
For example, I keep large buckets of coconut oil in my garage which regularly gets over 100 F/28 C during summer days, and it keeps perfectly for months on end.
Note also that the most beneficial and elusive fat of all in coconut oil, lauric acid, is completely absent from liquid coconut oil.
Two saturated fatty acids primarily remain…caprylic acid and capric acid.
Dairy foods, particularly goat milk and cheese, contain these fats naturally.
The other fats remaining in MCT oil/liquid coconut oil are oleic acid (the primary fat in olive oil) and linoleic acid found in vegetable oils.
Higher Percentage of Heat Unstable Fats
While oleic acid is heat stable and fine for cooking, linoleic acid definitely is not!
Removing lauric acid and other high melting point saturated fats from coconut oil results in a lipid that is no longer ideal for cooking.
It is a far worse choice than virgin or expeller-pressed coconut oil.
The reason is because it contains a much larger percentage of heat unstable fats. What’s more, the longer-chain vegetable fats encourage weight gain, not weight loss.
Would liquid coconut oil be a better choice than vegetable oils? In that case, I would agree. Vegetable oils like soy, corn and even canola would be far worse choices for cooking than liquid coconut oil. But when compared with true blue coconut oil, the scammy “liquid” versions pale by comparison.
Do yourself a favor, if you want to experience the benefits of coconut oil for cooking or weight loss, use the real thing. Skip the cleverly marketed liquid coconut oil versions.
MCT Oil and Liquid Coconut Oil Aren’t Cheap!
As if not being as good as real coconut oil isn’t enough, food manufacturers have the gall to charge a fortune for MCT oil and liquid coconut oil.
Sometimes the price tag is higher than a quality jar of virgin coconut oil itself!
This is one trick that manufacturers use to make you “believe” that their factory foods are better than the real thing.
MCT Oil is similarly priced, at or higher than the same amount of real, authentic virgin coconut oil.
You get the dregs and pay more for the “privilege”. Nice huh?
What about MCT Oil with Lauric Acid?
While most MCT oil on the market has no lauric acid whatsoever, I have seen some brands of MCT oil recently where there is some lauric acid present.
This means that manufacturers removed only some of the lauric acid (and sold it off for industrialized purposes).
The lauric acid amount present is not at the same high percentage as in unadulterated coconut oil, however.
If you remember the discussion from above, virgin and expeller pressed coconut oil are approximately 50% lauric acid. MCT oil with lauric acid contains far less.
The highest I’ve seen to date is 30%. Some brands do not list how much lauric acid is present at all!
One thing is for sure. If the MCT oil or liquid coconut oil stays fluid in the refrigerator, it doesn’t have much lauric acid in it.
Also, remember the problem with chemical residues in MCT oil if it wasn’t extracted using a physical process only.
The bottom line is that MCT oil is a manmade factory fat. It occurs nowhere in nature.
It doesn’t occur naturally in nature and using it regularly won’t produce the health benefits and weight loss results of using the real thing: coconut oil.
Isn’t MCT Oil Best for Alzheimer’s?
There’s been quite a bit of buzz in recent years surrounding MCT oil and its application in Alzheimer’s reversal using lipids.
It is true that MCTs are the active ingredient in Axona, a popular drug for those with Alzheimer’s Disease.
It is highly doubtful that MCTs are better than virgin coconut oil (VCO) for this purpose, however!
Dr. Bruce Fife, author of Stop Alzheimer’s Now, recommends VCO instead of MCT oil or MCT drugs such as Axona because the drugs become ineffective over time, wear off quickly, have side effects, and cause free radical damage to the cells. And, MCT oil on its own is an adulterated, inferior form of coconut oil.
When the MCTs in virgin coconut oil are converted into ketones they act as a super fuel for the brain. This super fuel provides energy to the brain as well as stimulates healing and repair. Hence, these fatty acids are very important for those who espouse the keto diet.
And, don’t forget. Lauric acid is the most beneficial MCT of all and yet is absent in most MCT oil brands on the market or in significantly reduced amounts.
Go for the real thing and you won’t ever be disappointed down the road that clever marketing has somehow cost you your health or failed to produce the wellness results you seek.
References
(1) MCT Oil Manufacture
(2) Eat Fat Lose Fat
(3) Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
(4) Stop Alzheimer’s Now
More Information
Coconut Oil Capsules: As Effective as Straight Up?
How to Use Coconut Oil for Weight Loss
When Coconut Oil May Not Be Right for You
You tried Sarah – that’s all you can do……..
If MCT oil is found no where in nature, neither is olive oil; it us extracted. Also, I have MCT oil. It is organic, and contains caprylic, capric and lauric acid and no solvents.
You are greatly mistaken about olive oil. I’ve been to a farm where they make olive oil. The olives are simply pressed. Here’s my post on how olive oil is made with videos of each step: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/extra-virgin-olive-oil-like-never-seen-or-tasted-before/
MCT oil has natural fats in it, yes, but this combination of fats exists nowhere in nature in a whole food. You need violent, factory processing to forcibly remove the lauric acid from coconut oil to make MCT oil. MCT oil is an industrialized fat.
Sarah
I am in agreement with what Tyler has also commented…you really are wrong about what you are saying. MCT oils are NOT the dregs. If that was the case then every other product that comes from the humble coconut such as: Coconut milk, coconut water, coconut cream, coconut flour and coconut powder would also all be classified as ‘dregs’ according to your theory. There is not any sense to your statement because you are talking about two totally different products for two very different applications. Of course, the ‘whole’ is always better than the individual sum of the parts but if a person is on a strict ketogenic diet and wants to have the best fuel available for energy and ketones then MCT’s are the best ‘natural’ product there is. On the other hand if a person wants to have the antibacterial, and antioxidant benefits, then Coconut oil is the choice they should make. It’s like having two different kinds of fuel, carbohydrates and fats…carbs are fast acting fuel and fats are slow fuel….both perform the same function but in different ways. Also, the reason why MCT’s are more expensive is not necessarily because of slick marketing, [although currently the demand is higher than the ability to supply so it is having an affect on price], it is because the yeild of MCT oil, once seperated from the total, is approximately 20% for the same amount of work. Additionally, the remaining oil has a lesser value without the MCT’s and so is not worth as much to the producer. I know this because I am currently involved in a project producing MCT oils from organically produced coconuts. So to say MCT’s are the ‘dregs’ is actually, misinformation.
When you take the most beneficial fat out of coconut oil (lauric acid) you are left with MCT oil … hence the dregs. Very apt description. Just use virgin coconut oil! It’s better and cheaper. Dr. Mary Enig, a pioneer in healthy fats, wouldn’t even include MCT oil in her book on healthy fats because it is an industrialized fat. What does that tell you? It’s the dregs.
Sarah,
I believe you’re on the wrong side of the isle on this one. Even if that’s why they started selling MCT oil it doesn’t mean that each independent ingredient doesn’t have its own unique benefits. If you want to target the benefits of capric and caprylic, then you use mct oil and if you want to target the benefits of lauric then coconut oil. Your argument is akin to saying never separate the juice and pulp of a cucumber by putting it through a juicer. Both the juice and the pulp have their respective benefits and sometimes we’d like to target only one. This doesn’t mean that since we processed the cucumber that it’s no longer healthy. Just my thoughts.
If MCT oil were truly beneficial, you would have an oil somewhere in nature that mimicked MCT oil’s fatty acid profile. It doesn’t exist. Truth is, folks have become enamored and convinced by the slick marketing. MCT oil is a factory produced fat … while the individual fatty acids in there are indeed beneficial, they are not in the proportions presented in MCT oil – these proportions are found nowhere in nature. Why not just use virgin coconut oil? It is less expensive and the real deal.
So who do we believe when we read other articles such as this one:
stayfitcentral.com/buyers-guides/mct-vs-coconut-oil-better/
MCT oil is suggested over coconut oil for ketogenic diets, for which I’ve seen droves of research showing it to be a highly effective way to lose weight and improve your overall health, and it’s not the Lauric acid content that has the main benefit. It’s the capric and caprylic acids that are of benefit.
Not sure how to put this any more clearly: MCT oil is not natural .. it is not found in nature anywhere. It is a processed fat that requires a factory to create. While the fats that comprise MCT oil are natural, the composition is not. MCT oil manufacturers want you to believe that the lauric acid isn’t as beneficial .. because they are selling you the dregs while the most beneficial fat, lauric acid, is sold off to cosmetics companies. It’s like soy companies trying to sell you that soy protein is more beneficial than other proteins .. when in reality it is the leftover sludge from making soy oil.
I use the liquid coconut oil on my skin and hair and I love it. I find it easier to use and that it soaks in well. I have mine in a pump bottle. Easy to mix with Essentials like Tea Tree or Lavender. So….I agree. I used to use the Coconut Oil in a jar.
Is fractionated coconut okay to use with essential oils in roller bottles?
This means that the virgin coconut oil doesn’t clog arteries? Where are the studies? Because I kinda don’t like stories.
WHAT ABOUT fractionated coconut oil for a topical moisturizer, and also for a carrier oil for essential oils?
I’ve read that fractionated coconut oil is wonderful for skin, is less oily and absorbs better than pure coconut oil which I use in foods and smoothies.
What is the difference between MCT oil and XCT oil and how do they differ from plain old coconut oil?